Good Samaritan

God of love, give us a deep love for you, so that we can see the world as you see it, feel the compassion you feel, and be a people whose lives mediate your love to others.

So open our eyes that we might see what the Good Samaritan saw. Grant us the insight to see the need in others, the wisdom to know what to do, and the will to do it.

And so we pray for all those, who in many and various ways, have been stripped, beaten and left for dead.

We pray for children who must grow up in the most awful of circumstances, especially for those starved of love, or food, or shelter or security. May they receive the future you have planned for them.

We pray for those we might cross the road to avoid. Who have been excluded socially because of their race, their financial status, or their history. May the dignity that is theirs be restored to them.

We pray for those whose need we would rather not face up to, because it requires action of us, those who suffer atrocities because of war, unjust trade rules, or oppressive governments. May the world receive a true picture of their suffering and the factors that cause it, that justice may be done.

Open our eyes, that we might not cross the road from human need. Give us a deep love for you, that we might see your love at work in this world, and that we might Go and do likewise.